The Maryknoll boys volleyball team brought home a state team championship for the first time in more than two decades.

Maryknoll, using a revamped lineup, defeated Hana, 25-22, 25-22, in the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Division II Volleyball State Championships last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"It's a great feeling," senior captain Simeon Ke-Paloma said. "It was for our coach, who won in his first year, the bench and Tri and Nick."

The top-seeded Spartans (16-7) were the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champions. The Dragons (11-1) were the No. 2 seed and champions of the Maui Interscholastic League.

Tri Bourne and Nick Castello were unable to play in the state tournament because of a combination-team rule. Bourne goes to Academy of Pacific and Castello attends ASSETS.

In their place junior Shelby Hawkman Nakakura stepped in, tallying 16 kills and two blocks.

"It feels awesome. This is a big state tournament for me," Nakakura said. "I'm usually a role player. Tri was the go-to guy."

The Spartans had to play a state-qualifying match against Mid-Pacific, where they played without Bourne and Castello and lost.

"That was a big key for us," Maryknoll coach Shawn Doo said. "I'm a firm believer in learning from mistakes. We had to learn to focus not only on our go-to guys. It had to be a team effort."

Last night, four Spartans had five or more kills, behind the setting of Bryce Wong.

The Spartans pulled away with a 7-2 run behind three kills by Nakakura and two by senior Carson Chun for a 9-4 lead early in Game 1. Hana tied it at 17 on a Spartans hitting error, the first of four ties late in the game. Maryknoll took the lead for good on an ace by senior Matthew Garcia to make it 21-20, and won the game on a Nakakura kill.

"Even in the regular season, we would start off strong," Castello said. "It was a good test for us."

Like Game 1, Maryknoll raced ahead to a 12-3 lead, with help from four Nakakura kills and Garcia's jump serves. And again, the Dragons made it close, pulling to within 24-22 on a kill by freshman Jeremiah "Kapena" Kaiwi before running out of points. A kill by Maryknoll junior middle Richard Herring ended the match.

"We started losing focus because we wanted to close out the game," Nakakura said.

Doo called Hana "a scrappy team that never gave up."

Hana captain Harold Kaiwi said he was still happy with the team's showing at the tournament. Two years ago the team won its first league title and played in the state tournament, only to have a uniform scare when two players' uniforms were sent to Australia.

"I think we had the jitters (last night)," said Harold Kaiwi, who along with his brother Jeremiah shared the team lead with four kills. "It was on television. We called everyone and told them to watch. The whole town was watching."

The title is Maryknoll's first boys' team title since 1984, when the basketball team won the state title. It is Maryknoll's second state title this season. Sophomore Julie Besenbruch won the girls cross country individual title Dec. 10.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.